Corpsewood – the LOST PAGES

Happy Halloween y’all!

Today we’re looking at the lost pages of Corpsewood, the horror comic by writer Chris Paugh I worked on back in 2007-2008. Although our story only ever got one issue, I completed art for another 10 page story. I penciled all 10 pages and managed to finish most of these 5 pages before I found out the plug was pulled on the project.

The second issue was to tell the tale of how our main character (still can’t remember his name) got arrested and broke out of prison. You see, he and his pregnant wife were vampire hunters that just moved. As they set up their new house, our hero leaves briefly. This is when his wife and unborn child are set upon by…ZOMBIE NAZIS! Our hero returns to find his wife and child are…well, you got eyes don’t ya?

FYI the baby was totally modelled after the Gerber baby, for those old enough to remember what that is.

I’m actually pretty happy with how the art and panelling was progressing for issue 2. I’m sad I didn’t get the chance to finish the story here. On the plus side I got to create a pregnant zombie image that I’ve used in future art pieces and is due to get painted next year.

Hopefully you have a safe and happy Halloween with zero encounters with actual pregnant zombies.

-AT

Corpsewood – page 8!

The final panel of the Corpsewood comic that appeared in the Psychotronik Comix anthology book.

I was pretty happy with my sense of space and mood here, and continue to be to this day. I’ve never been very good at environments and it shows in the simplistic composition here. However the image of Jesus with Issah looking at it worryingly is something I think still works.

These 8 pages were the only ones to be published…but there’s a bit more story to tell! I completed a few other pages for the next issue that never saw a release and you’ll get to read them…TOMORROW!

-AT

Corpsewood – page 7!

A moody panel for today’s look at Corpsewood, the comic by Chris Paugh and myself.

We get some exposition on exactly why our main character is in jail. In a move of classic foreshadowing, maybe you’ll find out just why our guy here went to jail soon…

I tried to make it look like they were in a confessional. I guess you get that impression, but again I’d make different choices if I were to do this again.

More tomorrow!

-AT

Corpsewood – page 6!

Another fresh Corpsewood page, with words and story by Chris Paugh and art by me!

Our main character meets an old friend in prison, who’s last line in this panel would have come across very differently had I not drawn him so stern.

Where will they be taking their conversation? Come back tomorrow!

-AT

Corpsewood – page 5

Welcome back to more Corpsewood pages!

Yesterday we saw prisoners filing into the prison chapel at Corpsewood Penitentiary.

This page is meant to portray the passage of time. I guess they let our main character here just hang around in the chapel all day. Must be a pretty relaxed prison…

I like the use of light and dark here. Truth be told I think I cheated on this page by doubling up the panels and slightly altering them. I’d definitely have done something different these days to denote the passage of time.

Tomorrow we find out why this man waited all day in chapel prison.

-AT

Corpsewood – page 4!

More Corpsewood art! The fourth panel from writer Chris Paugh’s and my horror comic.

I’m not thrilled with my building composition here. Pretty boring. Also I was supposed to make it look like fog was swarming the building and I don’t think I portrayed that at all. At least now you know where the title of the story comes from…it’s a prison!

Tomorrow is page 5!

-AT

Corpsewood – Page 3!

Welcome back to our journey through Corpsewood, the short-lived comic story that appeared in the anthology book Psychotronic Comix. Writer Chris Paugh wanted to do a supernatural tale about a vampire hunter ready to exact revenge on the monsters who ruined his life.

Today’s panel shows our main character meeting a mystical ally. I wish I could remember their names but again, this was almost 10 years ago. For the art style here I scanned in the pencils and digitally darkened and cleaned up the lines and added extra shading depth.

Tomorrow…another instalment! Stay tuned!

-AT

Corpsewood – Part 2

It’s Halloween week so I’m posting pages from the one and only comic book project I ever worked on – Corpsewood with Chris Paugh!

Today is page #2. I duplicated the gun hand from right to left (which, as I look at this for the first time in like 5 years is very obviously duplicated). Remember this work was done in 2006-2007 so I was still finding my footing in panel work…anatomy…style…FINE LET’S JUST SAY EVERYTHING.

I am happy with how the gun looks.

Tomorrow…page 3!

-AT

Corpsewood – Part 1

Hey kids! Happy Halloween!

Did you know I briefly worked on a real independent comic book? I sure did! It was back in 2006-2007 (possibly also 2008). It was for an anthology comic titled Psychotronic Comix. My instalment was called ‘Corpsewood’ with writer Chris Paugh. We only ever released one issue but it was enough for me to publicly state I was a published comic book artist. Boy, 12-year-old me was just jumping with joy that day.

Since we’re in the scariest season of the year (outside of course for tax time and Valentines Day) I thought I’d share all the pages I’d done for this project. Today you get a two-for-one deal with the cover page and the first page. I’ll post new pages all this week so you too can wonder aloud why I never became a full-time comic artist.

-AT

Knight Flight – Then and Now

Way back in 2012 I was still new to the world of painting. I hadn’t really gotten into finer painted detail work but I really enjoyed the size and scope of the results. Being a huge Batman fan (and having found some success with an earlier painting of the Dark Knight (that sold at FanExpo 2012) I took another stab at it. Here was the result:

I was happy with it to be sure but as time passed and my skills as a painter grew I started to wonder if I could improve upon the piece. Earlier in 2016 I finally grabbed the painting and starting upgrading it. From that upgrade came this…

To me the difference between the pieces is night and day (no pun intended). The colours, paint lines and tone are vastly superior in the 2016 version. There’s still an undeniable charm in the 2012 version however there’s little contest when it comes to the version most people prefer.

I’ve always believed in revisiting old artworks as time and talent progresses. In fact I’m finishing a Wonder Woman piece now that is an upgraded version of the painting I did in 2011. I’ll be sure to post a comparison here once it is complete.

However you might feel about treading upon older works, it’s obvious that I have no issue here. I do believe the goal is show a progression and maturity to your work, and if you aren’t happy with the results from a previous piece, there’s no rule that says you have to leave well enough alone. For good or ill, George Lucas proved that to all of us.

-AT